Refrigerator car door and sealing means therefor



T. MADLAND ET AL March 24, 1953 REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR AND SEALING MEANS THEREFOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 10, 1949 W/LF ED 9- EEQUCHQMP March 24, 1953 T. MADLAND ET AL REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR AND SEALING MEANS THEREFOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 10, 1949 .ID b :Q

nVvevvroes THOEl QLD MQDLQND. W/LFEED H. BEHUCHHM ]Aan n/oal/ March 24, 1953 T. MADLAND ET AL REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR AND SEALING MEANS THEREFOR Filed June 10, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 24, 1953 Ares UNITED rem" orricr.

REFRIGERATOR CAR DOOR AND SEALING MEANS THEREFGR of Ohio Application June 10, 1949, Serial No. 98,309

4. Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerator car doors and more especially to sliding flush doors for such cars and the means for sealing the edges of the doors.

Doors of this type are customarily provided with mechanism for forcing them into their door openings. This movement of the doors serves to compress sealing strips disposed between the doors and the door openings and thus provide a seal around the doors. Sealing strips now in use are not entirely satisfactory. Not only is their cost high and the force required to cornpress them large, but they are not entirely effective for their intended purpose.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a non-metallic sealing strip for refrigerator car doors which shall possess a high degree of resiliency and insure a satisfactory seal for the edges of the doors.

A further object is to provide a sealing strip which shall facilitate and reduce the cost of application thereof to doors for refrigerator cars and particularly to such doors having a ship-lap edge construction.

A further object is to provide a sealing strip for refrigerator car doors which shall insure a satisfactory seal at the corners of the doors.

A further object is to provide a sealing strip which shall embody a resilient element and a canvas strip so related that the canvas strip will serve as the means for securing the sealing strip in position.

A further object is to provide a sealing strip so constructed as to minimize both cost and overall Width of ship-lap type doors for refrigerator cars.

A further object is to provide a sealing strip of the character described above which shall facilitate adjustment of the strip.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings forming part of this specification:

l is an elevation of a sliding flush refrigerator car door of the ship-lap type sealed by means of sealing strips embodying the instant invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line i l of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a plurality of sealing strips embodying the instant invention 2 showing their relationship upon a refrigerator car door.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken on line 8-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on line l! of Fig. 5.

In the drawings the reference numeral ill designates in its entirety a sliding flush refrigerator car door of the ship-lap type upon which the sealing strip embodying the instant invention is illustrated. The door embodies a wooden frame comprising similar vertical stiles, one of which is illustrated at i l and upper and lower horizontal rails i2 and 53. Wooden nailing members such as M are secured to the stiles as by means of bolts i5 and similar wooden nailing members It and I1 are similarly secured to the rails i2 and [3. An outer metallic panel 18 reinforced by means of Vertical angular members such as H) and upper and lower horizontal angular members 20 and 2i are secured to the outer face of the wooden frame as by means of bolts such as 22. As clearly illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and a of the drawings, the wooden nailing members are disposed Within the angular reinforcing members of the metallic panel. From these figures of the drawings it Will be further apparent that the stiles and rails and the wooden nailing members are of such size and are so related that together they constitute a ship-lap edge construction for the door.

The door carries mechanism indicated generally by the reference numeral 23 by means of which the door may be moved into and out of the door opening 24 formed in the side wall 25 of the car. This mechanism also serves to support the door upon rollers for movement along the car wall. The mechanism per se forms no part of the instant invention and more detailed description thereof is not believed to be necessary. This mechanism, however, forms the subject matter of an application of Wilfred A. Beauchamp, Serial No. 48,392, filed September 9, 1948, to which reference is hereby made for a more detailed description.

In order to provide a satisfactory seal for the edges of the door when it has been forced into the door opening the sealing strip embodying the instant invention is utilized. With particular reference to Figs. 5-7, inclusive, of the drawings it will be apparent that the sealing strip 26 embodies an elongated sponge rubber member 2? which is preferably semi-annular in cross section. To provide this cross section the underside of the rubber member is formed with a semi-circular groove G which has a two-fold function. First it prevents waviness of the rubber member in the process of molding, and second it provides a space into which the rubber flows when it is compressed, as shown in Figs. 2-4 inclusive. An attaching strip 28 formed preferably of canvas is cemented upon the outer surface of the sponge rubber member by means of a rubber cement which permits the canvas to be stripped from the rubber member as desired. As shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, one marginal side edge 29 of the canvas strip terminates substantially at the adjacent side edge of the rubber member 2'! while the canvas strip is of such width as to extend beyond the opposite side edge of the rubber member as shown at 30. Also as shown in this figure of the drawings, the marginal portions 36 and 38 of the canvas strip are separated from the rubber member for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. he canvas strip is preferably painted with a tallow or other solution in order to 53- render it weatherproof.

With particular reference to Fig. of the drawings, it will be seen that each of the sealing strips is angular in shape and embodies a relatively long leg 3i and a relatively short leg By means of this construction when a plurality of the strips are secured around the perimeter of the car door, they are joined by means of butt joints 33, 3d, 35 and 36 which are square and which are spaced from the corners of the door. In this manner the strips are readily and accurately buttjoined together and mitered joints, which are difficult to form, at the corners of the door are avoided. While a space is shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings between the abutting edges of adjacent strips, this is done merely for the sake of clarity and it will be understood that in the actual application of the sealing strips to the car door, the adjacent strips will actually abut so that the spaces illustrating the joined strips will not occur.

By means of the instant invention, the sealing strips may readily be secured to the car door in a simple and economical manner which will maintain the overall width of the door at a minimum and which will permit simple adjustment of the strips in the event that more intimate engage ment between the strips and the door framing members of the car is required. This is accom plished by utilizing the canvas strips as the means by which securement of the sealing strips to the door frame is obtained.

In securing each sealing strip to the door frame it is first inverted so that nails such as 31 may be driven through the marginal portion 38 of the canvas strip 28 from the underside thereof into the adjacent stile or rail. When this has been done, the sealing strip is restored to its normal position and disposed upon the adjacent nailing member so that the sponge rubber member 21 lies between a shoulder such as 39 formed on the nailing member and the side of the adjacent stile. Disposing the sealing strip in this manner causes the heads of the nails 34 to lie between the underside of the marginal portion 38 of the canvas strip 28 and the adjacent side of the rubber member 2! as is more clearly shown in Figs. 2-4, inclusive, of the drawings. Thereupon the extending portion 30 of the canvas strip is nailed along the outer side of the nailing strip as by means of rows of nails 48 and 4 I. When the sealing strips are secured as explained hereinabove around the perimeter of the door, they are positioned upon the lapping portion of the ship-lap structure of the door in position to engage the adjacent portions of the door frame and to be compressed thereby when the door is forced inwardly into the door opening.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that a highly satisfactory seal is provided by means of the novel sealing strip disclosed. By reason of the mode of securement of the sponge rubber member to the door, separate attachment thereof and irregularity of contact between the sealing strip and the door frame are avoided. Moreover, simple adjustment of the sealing strip with regard to the door frame is readily obtained by the simple expedient of placing shims or the like between the underside of the rubber member and the nailing members.

In the preferred embodiment of applicant's sealing strip, the sponge rubber member is mold d. Moreover, while canvas readily lends itself as a covering member for the sponge rubber strip, it will be apparent that other woven or felted materials may be utilized in place of canvas. It will be apparent, moreover, that while in the preferred application of the novel sealing strip, it is secured to the door, it will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art that it may be ap- L plied around the door opening if so desired.

As indicated hereinabove, the attachment of the marginal portion 38 of the canvas strip in the manner described to the side edge of the wooden framing members holds the overall width of the door to a minimum. If this portion of the canvas strip were fastened in the normal manner it would be extended and fastened to the nailing members in the plane of the underside of the sponge rubber member, which would necessitate an increase in the width of the nailing members and consequently the overall width of the door.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. It is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

We claim:

l. A sealing strip for doors of refrigerator cars comprising an elongated sponge rubber member semi-annular in cross section, and a canvas strip adhesively secured to and covering the curved surface of said member, said canvas strip being substantially alined with one side edge of said rubber member and extending outwardly beyond the other side edge of the said member, the portions of said canvas strip adjacent to said side edges of said rubber member being separated from said member, said portions constituting the means whereby the sealing strip is nailed in position.

2. A sealing strip comprising an elongated sponge rubber member, the under surface of said member being formed with a groove extending lengthwise of said member intermediate the side edges thereof, and a fibrous strip adhesively scoured to and covering the upper surface of said member, said fibrous strip being substantially alined with one side edge of said member and extending outwardly beyond the other side edge of said member, the portions of said canvas strip adjacent to said side edges of said resilient member being separated from said member, said portions constituting the means whereby the sealing strip is nailed in position.

3. In a door for refrigerator cars comprising a door frame, said frame being of ship-lap construction, and sealing means for said door secured to said frame, said sealing means comprising a resilient member and a canvas strip cemented to the outer surface of said member, said strip terminating substantially in line with one side edge of said member, said strip extending beyond the other side edge of said member, said resilient member being disposed upon the lapping portion of said frame, said strip adjacent to one side edge of said member being separated from said member, and means for fastening said sealing means to said frame, said fastening means comprising nails driven through said separated portion of said strip from the underside thereof into the side edge of said frame above said lapping portion and nails driven through the extending portion of said strip into the side edge of said lapping portion of said frame from the outside of said extending portion.

4. In a rectangular door for refrigerator cars comprising stiles and raLls of ship-lap construction secured together to form a rectangular frame, a continuously extending rectangular recess formed in the lapping portion of said rails and stiles inwardly of the outer edges thereof, a continuously extending non-metallic sealing strip seated in said recess, the underside of said sealing strip engaging the bottom of said recess, the sides of said sealing strip abutting the sides of said recess, said sealing strip comprising a THORVALD NLADLAND. \VILFRED A. BEAUCHAMP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 733,071 IvIcGriif 1- July 7, 1903 1,566,551 Christensen Dec. 22, 1925 1,809,153 Swedman June 9, 1931 2,023,917 Darbyshire Dec. 18, 1935 2,033,436 McCormick Mar. 10, 1936 2,121,827 Roberts June 28, 1933 2,256,276 Bright Sept. 16, 1941 2,280,232 Haseltine Apr. 21, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 770,046 France June 18, 1934 

